What crime did Erwin James commit?

Is that sugar popcorn or savoury, Stan?

See, I'm not out of my depth at all, because of past work experience and the like. The only opinion I've formed about you is that you might be more conservative than I am - and it's only an opinion because I don't know you well and have no desire to. I'd much rather deal constructively with issues around the question of prisoner rehabilitation in a world where victims' families have feelings and rights, as does any prisoner with a discharged sentence. That is maybe the best thing that could be done right now with what is actually a pretty crepey thread.

cosign

lonely ex-con just thinking baout things
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Society/Comment/Columnist/2009/4/24/1240562572899/James-Monahan-Erwin-James-001.jpg

I'd much rather deal constructively with issues around the question of prisoner rehabilitation in a world where victims' families have feelings and rights, as does any prisoner with a discharged sentence.

well, self congratulatory posts on a message board are certainly the best way to do that. Carry on, by all means, and mind the soapbox on the way down.

How, exactly, was I congratulating myself by pointing out the existence of prison writing programmes or questioning the crepey motives of a one-off poster to this thread? How does a desire to see convicts rehabilitate successfully constitute the annexation of a soap box?

and i'm reductive.

agreed on the creepiness of one-off subject poster, i'm sure we all know that prison writing programmes exist and i'm equally sure we all wish for full convict rehabilitation. jeez, how did we ever end up calling each other names?

http://i41.tinypic.com/2q88w04.gif
^^^
Stan - I just did that cliched snorting tea over my keyboard thing.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2lc78ra.jpg

(xpost lol)

looks like this is going to feature in the mail on sunday tomorrow :\

by lukeybaby?

what crime did lukeybaby commit?

More like stalkybaby amirite?

The Mail article is more of an attack on the Guardian.

I hate it when people who've completed their sentences and satisfied a parole board that they have processed and understood their offence to the degree that James has done are subjected to a malice that they are actively working against in their new lives. Yes, I understand the anger and sadness victims' families exhibit but clinging to rancor for the rest of their own lives isn't going to bring a loved one back or move anyone forward, and it's just as irrational to ask a prisoner to live aspic-suspended in a past moment just because your loss is the only thing giving your own life meaning.

lot to unpack in this. wouldn't want to subject anyone to malice, but completing a sentence and satisfying a parole board are irrelevant to the point at hand. if EJ had processed and understood his offence, maybe he wouldn't have come clean about with his readers? idk, seems off to me.

as for 'clinging to rancor', etc: you sound way out of your depth here.

the guardian say they needed someone who'd been inside for a long time -- ok, maybe. but maybe a double-murderer was pushing it. or, coming from another angle, d'you reckon they'd have stood by a paedophile or serial rapist to this extent? i don't think they'd have risked it, personally. the living victims may well have clung to their rancor in public.

ha, this whole deal reminds me of this
http://www.break.com/tv-shows/saturday-night-live/prose-and-cons-626242.html

The Mail article is more of an attack on the Guardian.

― weight and bulk are your enemies (Ned Trifle II),

Who'd have thought it, eh?

ha, this whole deal reminds me of this
http://www.break.com/tv-shows/saturday-night-live/prose-and-cons-626242.html

The requested video cannot be displayed in your region because we are stupid.

Disappointing lack of comments on that Mail article - it's as if nobody really cares.

if you google eddie murphy and "prose and cons" you might get another source that plays it. it's a classic snl short that spoofs on the whole norman mailer/jack henry abbott debacle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abbott

Henry, I'd like to know exactly why you believe I sound out of my depth here, as your dismissal was a bit...shallow. I draw on many things I'm not prepared to discuss in depth on a public message board but what I will say is that I've had a lot of access to law enforcement opinion over the years and have helped to administer prison writing programmes in the past. I also have zero time for over-reliance on victim status as a kind of everlasting gobstopper of emotional blackmail when other victims and survivors aren't like that. My opinion isn't derived solely from watching how the topic plays out in the media and if there's a non-spectator element behind your words some clarity is in order, because it doesn't seem like it.

I'm satisfied with EJ's rationale behind his previous anonymity and I wonder what the reasoning behind his outing *really* is. Attack on Graun for its recent stance on criminal justice, maybe?

To answer your other question, comparing murderers with sex offenders for the purpose of this discussion is a bit apples and oranges.

At least this thread is good for one thing: capturing the reptile-brain thought processes of tabloid reporters in real time.